Saturday, December 3, 2016

Aroma Digital Rice Steamer Review

It's been 3 years since I got my Aroma Digital Rice Steamer. So I decided it was time to share my review of how it's worked in my kitchen. Along with sharing some of my favorite recipes for delicious rice and grains, you can learn a few of the tricks I've discovered to make perfect grains every time. You can never go wrong with a great rice side dish. Or maybe a base for a yummy stir-fry. Or any number of other ways to enjoy rice and grains.

Review of Aroma Digital Rice Steamer

After reviewing many different choices, I picked the Aroma brand for my rice steamer for several reasons. First, the capacity. This can make 8 cups of rice. At a half cup per portion, you could feed 16 with one batch. Granted I've never tried to feed 16 people at once, but it's nice to know I can. Second, it has both a white rice setting and a brown rice one. That's important when you use healthy grains like quinoa and millet. Use the brown rice setting for these, which cooks a bit longer giving you fluffier grains.

The third and final reason I chose the Aroma brand was the price. It's not the cheapest one on the market, but it's certainly affordable and fit nicely into my tight budget.

A feature of the Aroma Digital Rice Steamer that I didn't think I would need is a delayed timer setting. WOW - that has turned out to be the feature I most enjoy. If I want to serve dinner at 6, I just start the rice steamer at 3, set it for 3 hours delayed and the perfect rice is ready when the rest of dinner is finished. The delay cycle is long enough that you can set it before leaving for work if you want.

Cooking Different Grains in the Aroma Rice Steamer

Since I've cooked different grains and a variety of rices, I can offer you a few tips to make them perfectly every time. For grains like quinoa and millet, I've found that a little bit less liquid makes a perfectly cooked grain. The Aroma rice steamer comes with a measuring cup for the grains. Per each cup of grain, I use 1 1/2 cups of liquid. For wild rice, I use 2 1/4 cups of liquid. For stickier rice, I use about 2 cups of water and for long grain rices, I use about 1 3/4 cups of liquid.

This may seem a little picky, but it matters. You want the rice or grains to turn out to be perfect for the recipe you're making so a little pickiness works wonders. All the water is absorbed into the rice so the amount does matter.

Onion Wild Rice Recipe

One of my family's favorite recipes is Onion Wild Rice. And it's so easy to do. This recipe makes 4 servings.

Finely chop about half of a yellow or white onion.

Add the onions and the dry wild rice to your rice cooker.

Add 2 1/4 cups of broth, vegetable, chicken or beef broth works.

Add in a dash of salt and pepper to your own taste.

Stir the mixture up and turn on the rice cooker to the brown rice setting.

See, I told you it was easy. I've tried it with ground dried Shitake mushrooms as well and that works great, too. With a rice steamer, you can let your imagination help you create interesting dishes.

Coconut Almond Grains

This is another easy recipe using quinoa and millet together. They are similar grains, but have slightly different flavors. To your rice cooker add:

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened dry coconut flakes

1/4 cup almond slivers or chopped almonds

1 cup of mixed quinoa and millet - can be equal portions or not

1 1/2 cup of liquid - water works just great, as does broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Stir this up and turn on your rice cooker, setting for brown rice. Another simple way to add healthy grains to you meals.

Choosing a Rice Steamer

The market has many different rice steamers. Nearly every small kitchen appliance maker makes one. So you will need to make a choice. The Aroma brand is not as well known as others, which is why I felt it needed a review after all my years of using it.

Companies like Oster and Cuisinart also make rice steamers. You may be more comfortable with a brand you recognize. Besides the brand name, you also want to consider capacity. Make sure you can make enough cooked rice to feed your family. For many price is a major consideration. You need to balance how often you will use the rice steamer, the features, the capacity, and the price. See more about how to choose a small kitchen appliance for your own needs.

Terrific review, Susan, as rice cooker is actually a product I've been considering buying. I love rice and eat it often, There's a rice cooker in my son's household, as he married a girl from South Korea and they have rice at every meal, no matter what else is served. My daughter-in-law's rice is SO delicious coming from her rice cooker.

I have a small rice steamer that I use frequently and really love. The features of yours, particularly the capacity and the delayed timer, are awesome. I'd recommend a rice steamer for anyone who ever cooks rice. You'll never go back to the top of stove or microwave methods. Very helpful review!

My mother just recently commented on how she would like to have a rice cooker. It really helps to read reviews to know which small appliance to actually purchase. And, of course, the additional recipes are an awesome extra. Thank you for this wonderfully timed review!

We have a small rice cooker that we love, but if we ever needed to replace it I definitely like the different settings for white or brown rice and the delayed timer is a great feature. I love your onion wild rice recipe and will definitely be trying that out on the family!

So far I've never felt I needed a rice steamer. It would be one more thing to find a place for in addition to my crockpots and other small appliances. I normally just cook rice and other grains in a saucepan. Why is a rice cooker better than that? I'd need a good reason to justify such a purchase. I see the convenience, though, since I assume it wouldn't need to be watched as carefully as stovetop cooked rice.

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